Shopping outlets, what are your thoughts?

[Niftythrifter]

I have been to a shopping outlet today and the discount was only twenty pounds on an item I would have bought had it of been cheaper. It was in a colour way that was current three years ago. Other stores had stock which I am pretty sure my local department store had discounted more. To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Some outlets are better than others. Some have decent stuff, others have tatt. Some have a decent discount others are just as expensive as their high street counterparts. I guess some people get caught up in the hype and don't check prices, particularly on higher price goods so they often aren't actually reduced.

They're not for me.

A lot of the stock is bought in purposely to sell in the outlet anyway and I always find the rest of it looks like what it is - stock from a few seasons ago that never sold or current season stuff at full price to fill up the shop. Our nearest one is very uninspiring and most of the discounts are either quite small really, no different than you'd find in a seasonal sale or otherwise are stuck in a permanent set up of the higher % discounts being tied into when you're buying multiple items. Im usually hard pressed to find anything I want let alone 4 items.

I'd rather buy one thing i liked at full price knowing id use it (bearing in mind you can almost always get some sort of voucher code shopping online anyway) or pick up a secondhand one on vinted or ebay and get a deeper discount there.